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Woman pleads guilty in newborn abduction attempt

JONESBORO, Ga. — Authorities say a 19-year-old woman, accused of trying to steal a newborn from a Riverdale hospital, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and false imprisonment.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Naquelle Ballard of Morrow was sentenced this week to serve 10 years in prison.

Police say Ballard admitted to buying scrubs and pretending to work at Southern Regional Hospital. Police say she took the baby from its mother in January, saying she’d take it back to the nursery, but instead put it in her purse.

She was confronted by hospital staff when an alarm went off. She left the hospital but was arrested a short time later by police.

Police say Ballard said she miscarried but didn’t tell her boyfriend and planned to pretend the abducted baby was hers.